Do Rick Ross’ Lyrics Promote Rape?

Rapper Rick Ross has a new song out called U.O.E.N.O. where he raps an unbelievable lyric:

“Put molly all in her champagne/ She ain’t even know it/ I took her home and I enjoyed that/ She ain’t even know it.”

I’m sure you’re thinking, similar to how I was, Am I reading this correctly? Ladies, it hurts my heart to answer: Yes, you are.

Read it again. Ross, a man, a BLACK man, a BLACK man with a mother, girlfriend and, possibly, one day daughters had the nerve to open his mouth and spew forth this ignorance:

“Put molly all in her champagne/ She ain’t even know it/ I took her home and I enjoyed that/ She ain’t even know it.”

And who knows the race of the woman he’s referring to in the song, but seeing as how I assume Ross has his share of interested women across the color line, his lyrics can be talking about raping a black woman, a white woman, and every ethnicity in between.

What am I saying? Who in the world thought it was okay for Ross to write that lyric, record it in a studio, put it on a CD, and send it out to the masses? Do you realize that from conception (whoever came up with the lyric) to manifestation (consumers hearing the track) this ridiculous 24-word lyric had to be heard and approved by multiple people? And none of them, not even once considered the actual meaning behind any of these words?

Sistas, I don’t even have high blood pressure, but after hearing about this, I’m not so sure anymore.

Then, Mr. Ross calls himself “explaining” his lyrics, saying they were “misrepresented.” His foolishness:

“Woman is the most precious gift known to man,” he said. “And there was a misunderstanding with a lyric…a misinterpretation where the term rape was used. I would never use the term rape, you know, in my lyrics. And as far as my camp, hip hop don’t condone that, the streets don’t condone that, nobody condones that.”

Mr. Ross, your comments inspired me to explain something myself: You don’t have to literally SAY a word to imply its meaning.

I could say, “What kinda’ man thinks it’s okay, to rap about rape? The kinda man like Rick Ross, not a lick of sense on his plate.” Now I didn’t use the words dumb, ignorant, or classless, but you can pretty much tell that that’s what I’m saying.

How can Mr. Ross say, “Woman is the most precious gift known to man”? Women are so precious to you, as a man, yet you had a woman in mind when you clearly talked about slipping a drug in her drink, taking her home and raping her…all while “she ain’t even know it”? Yeah, okay.

And he also said there was a misunderstanding with the lyric. Yet, I don’t see what my understanding is missing.

If “she ain’t even know it” after you put a molly in her drink, what is the misunderstanding? Don’t date rapists put drugs in women’s drinks to, catch this, rape them?

And if “she aint even know it” after you “took her home and enjoyed that,” what part don’t I understand? A woman who is not conscious or aware of how you’re “enjoying” her sexually, especially due to the fact that you admitted to slipping a drug in her drink prior to the encounter, is classified as being raped, is she not?

I know these rappers are suddenly glorifying molly, which is ridiculous in and of itself, but who knew the day would come when a rapper that so many in the Black community support would be openly rapping about raping women?

It’s not enough for Mr. Ross to say neither he nor anyone in hip-hop or his camp condones rape. If you don’t, why put it in your song?

It’s not just music, it’s a message. A message that SO many young people, especially young men, listen to and try to mold their lives and actions after.

I just read about this so I’m not aware of all the steps that have been taken to combat this, but is there a petition or something going? Sistas, we need to speak up against this and fast before more men think it’s okay to do something to women and “she aint even know it.”

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BIO
Service is her passion, writing is her platform, women and the Black Community are her avenues. Shala Marks is a writer, editor and soon-to-be author. Through her work, Marks aspires to demonstrate “The Craft of Writing, and the Art of Efficacy.” She has a B.A. in journalism from Arizona State University. Connect with her at:

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4 Comments

Though Rick Ross is a sick and disgraceful human being, we must remember that before this song was put on any album or played on any radio station, it had to be approved by a host of executives, probably male and female. Just as we seek to hold Ross accountable for his words, so should we seek to hold those executives accountable who thought it was ok to allow this kind of vile filth to appear on any album and be played on any radio station.

And on a slightly different note, rap music is the music of degenerates. It stopped being an art form well over 20 years ago. When that east coast gang affiliated music took over, everything went to hell. Since then, rap has become the arena where high school drop outs, drug dealers, murderers, rapists and thieves seek employment.

All of sudden these rappers are talking exclusively to BLACK women? LOL I get your point…But, we need to spend time explaining the dangers of Molly and taking drinks that you don’t see being poured…how about that. I doubt he’s taking black girls home…start there. lol

Furthermore…everyone knows…Hip Hop so called Rap Music been sold out…and not just on a black tip…but on common sense or intergrity tip…It’s lame. What self respecting woman/girl really listens to any of this garbage. js

This song condones rape. Have any of you ever seen the movie “KIDS”? (It was one of Rosario Dawson’s first roles) At the very end, something similar happens to one of the female characters. Everybody at the party is passed out. One guy wakes, is horny, sees girl passed out, has sex with her. Disgusting. Likewise, a similar instance in another film based on a Bret Easton Ellis novel, “The Rules of Attraction” (2002) where a girl, passed out, not fully coherent, is taken by three guys.

Rape isn’t just no means no: i say no, but you ignore that and go ahead and force yourself on me anyway. Rape is disavowing the notion that there must be consent to engage. Dropping a molly in a drink means malice of forethought—render the person unconscious enough so that the person doesn’t have the opportunity to say no, nor does the situation get to the point where the person about to get raped can say no. Assuaging the guilt you might feel if you were to force yourself on someone who has denied you.

Not only do women need to be taught how to avoid being raped and to know what rape is. MEN need to know that their actions, overt or no, can be construed as rape. Drugging a woman, premeditation. Just because she doesn’t say no (‘coz she’s passed out), doesn’t mean she is saying yes, either.

And then there’s the bigger picture you all posit that belies an agenda against black women. That’s a discussion for another day. I’m running out of coffee. Peace.